Page 66 of Jace

It hit the side of the machine with a deafening crash.

For a moment, the terraformer appeared to be wobbling sideways.

But the far arm reached down to right itself and the near one grabbed the tree and fed it into the machine’s hungry mouth.

The dragon fell back, uncertain.

He tilted his big head, trying to understand what was going wrong. How could a machine be so strong?

Perhaps the hull had protected the insides from his fire. If he could tear away the metal armor, then his fire would penetrate the heart of the thing.

He faced the sky and flapped hard as the terraformer dragged trees from the ground to feed to itself.

Below, he wondered if Susannah would think he was retreating. He hoped not.

Swinging back, he ducked his head and flapped hard again, then drew his wings in and dove for his enemy.

The forest flashed toward him.

At the last second, he extended his claws, hoping to catch the seam of the armor and rip it off.

They only hit the metal and screamed as he tried to engage it. His claws could find no purchase and he found himself sliding over the side of the beast.

A massive metal claw wrapped around him, crushing his wings to his body so they could not move.

The dragon was out of moves, and out of time.

He could hear Susannah cry out for him from below, her voice a single note of anguish.

As the claw swung through the air, he had one last idea.

Using the remaining dregs of his strength, he twisted himself in the claw’s hold, freeing one wing.

He flapped for all he was worth and could feel the arm lifting in spite of itself.

It hadn’t been designed for the arm to have to lift above the level of its mouth.

When it was level with the top of the machine the claw tried to release him.

He felt his other wing come free and was overcome with relief. But he didn’t retreat.

Instead, he held onto the arm with his claws, and wrenched upward, flapping both his newly freed wings.

There was a groan of metal and he pulled with all he had. At first, nothing happened, and he thought the fight was truly over. But suddenly, the arm ripped free, popping from the joint with a loud crack.

It was still connected to the body, with lengths of cable as thick as tree trunks.

The dragon considered.

Then he flung the dislocated arm into the maw of the machine and flapped hard to get out of its way.

There was a clatter of metal on metal, followed by the scream of the claw reaching the belly of the beast. Sparks flew out of the machine’s mouth, as if it had eaten a fireworks display.

The treads smoked and seized up, and the machine lurched so hard it nearly fell on its side.

Then the drives inside began to fail, sending the free arm jerking back and forth until the whole machine came to a shuddering halt.

There was a final sizzle and a puff of smoke, and then the forest was silent once more.

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